Sugar Rush
by LifesLover
Summary: To Axel, Roxas was like sugar. Not in the way that the acerbic, sarcastic blond actually was pure spun sugar, but that he went to Axel’s head like a sugar rush and gave Axel a high that lasted for days. /Companion fic to Triple Dog Dare You. For 8/13 day/


Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.

A/N: Eh, what does that summary say?! Does it say that it's the companion fic to 'Triple Dog Dare You'? Why yes, yes, it does. And no, it's not misleading you. And for people that haven't read 'Triple Dog Dare You', you don't really need to read it to understand what's going on in this one. Although you might want to read it to understand the ending somewhat. Anway, this is not a sequel or a prequel, really, because it doesn't deal with the Zemyx pairing, as 'Triple Dog Dare You' does. I was gonna upload this for AkuRoku day, but decided that I wanted to be different. :D Wow, was I secretive about this or what? Didn't tell anyone what I was planning. I'm actually kinda surprised that no one asked for the story behind Axel and Roxas from 'Triple Dog Dare You'. Anyway, consider this as my AkuRoku day piece.

Warning: I decided to do this as over-the-top cliche. I might have gone over the board with Roxas, but I don't care. I like him. The reason this is rated T is because of the cussing, the light kissing, and a very violent Roxas.

THANK YOU TO THE 24 REVIEWERS AND 36 FAVORITERS FOR 'TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU'. BECAUSE OF YOUR LOVE OF THAT ONESHOT, I DID THIS. THIS IS FOR ALL OF YOU.

Enjoy!

* * *

_**Sugar Rush**_

To Axel, Roxas was like sugar. Not in the way that the acerbic, sarcastic blond actually _was_ pure spun sugar, but that he went to Axel's head like a sugar rush and gave Axel a high that lasted for days.

Axel absolutely loved those highs.

Roxas couldn't be described as having a sugary or sweet disposition in any way possible. In fact, he was about as sour as expired milk. Only… without the chunks. Yeah, Axel wasn't the greatest at describing exactly what Roxas was to him. But, he felt that likening Roxas to sugar was a pretty good idea, even though Roxas was so far from having a sweet personality that cats didn't even want to be near him (the evil ones, of course). It was all in how Roxas made Axel feel, really, that Axel liked.

Roxas would come up to Axel, kick him in the shin, kiss him on the cheek, and then would just walk away. Axel would melt like butter in hundred degree weather, smile dopily, and sigh like a love sick puppy.

He was gaga for Roxas in a way that probably wasn't healthy. And Roxas, for all that he wasn't nice and all smiles (unlike his brother, Sora), was just as gaga for Axel. Of course, Roxas had a very strange way of showing his love that Axel completely adored.

He was abusive.

Roxas would kick, punch, slap, strangle, hit, and all around treat Axel as a punching bag when he grew angry at the redhead, or even just as a show of affection.

So yes, Axel being gaga for Roxas really _wasn't_ very healthy.

But Axel didn't care, for this was Roxas, and Roxas was all that Axel did care about. Axel wasn't a masochist, or anything of the sorts, and he didn't really enjoy being made into a punching bag, but he loved Roxas, and knew that Roxas loved him.

Each hit, and each kick, Axel would treasure, just as much as each hug, each kiss, each smile (it was like pulling _teeth_ to get Roxas to smile, but when he did, it was like the sun peeking out from behind a storm cloud- absolutely beautiful and worth waiting through the rain for), and each 'I love you' that Roxas gave him.

Zexion Zalman, Axel's best friend (although that term could be used _very_ loosely), believed that Axel was a masochistic idiot that, even though he was a dumb hyperactive moron, really loved Roxas.

Demyx Mizu, Axel's other friend and Zexion's boyfriend (_long_ story), believed that Roxas had some issues, but that he really was a good guy, and really loved Axel.

They were most definitely the strangest couple that their school was privy to, and Axel and Roxas couldn't have cared less. Yes, some would consider Roxas to be abusive, and some would consider Axel to not have a clue that he really was being abused, but to Axel, Roxas was his sugar, keeping him high for days.

Axel really loved sugar.

* * *

Not everything used to be so copacetic in the world of Axel and Roxas. Once upon a time, Roxas was new, Demyx wasn't there, and Axel was the class clown, who, for some odd reason, was best friends with the class nerd.

Axel, being said class clown, immediately pulled a prank on the new kid (they were freshman, so Axel could blame it on being immature and young, but what was his excuse now?) and Roxas decided that he hated Axel with everything inside him.

For the rest of the freshman year, Roxas kept to this view, and Axel had no problem with it, because he was used to people hating him. Sophomore year, however, changed things.

Axel and Zexion had a sort of tradition- a tradition that had been started when they were both thirteen years old and had lasted for three years. Axel (in a fit of boredom, for Zexion had been ignoring him, _again_) had coerced Zexion into a game of 'Dare or Dare'. From then on, Axel would try to find anything to humiliate Zexion, for Zexion would never back down. After all, Axel had triple dog dared him. Axel wanted to find the one dare that Zexion would never do.

This tradition was still going on; with Axel randomly coming up to his best friend, spouting off a dare, and watching Zexion humiliate himself in the course of finishing the dare. So far, Zexion had completed every single one.

At the end of their senior year, Zexion and Axel could honestly say that starting that game of 'Dare or Dare' was probably the best thing that they had ever done. Because of it, they had both found the ones that they really loved.

* * *

Zexion Zalman stared across the Formica lunch table at his friend, Axel Edan, and decided that his friend was absolutely mad. This was, of course, nothing that he hadn't already deduced through several years of living next to each other and being best friends.

Still, Zexion liked to reiterate things sometimes, and this was one such time. Axel was absolutely mad.

"You… want me to… what?"

Axel grinned, tossing a chip into his mouth and, while chewing, spoke, "I want you to get up on the lunch table and say that you are a gay fairy who has the hots for Saïx Lunar."

Zexion scoffed. "You want me to say that I like that blue haired freak of nature? Even though I'm not gay?"

Axel stared at Zexion, most pointedly at his blue-slash-slate hair. "You're one to talk, Zexy, what with that hair."

Zexion waved his hand, sweeping the accusation away. "Mine's tasteful. And real. His isn't."

Axel rolled his eyes. "Either way, that's not what's important. I wanna see you get up on this table and admit to being gay, and that you like a celebrity, even though you aren't and don't."

Zexion glared his (patent pending) 'Glare of Malicious and Deathly Intent' at Axel, wanting Axel's insides to shrivel up and die. Even so, Axel merely shrugged, having seen the glare for the sixteen years that they had known each other and, as such, was immune to its effects.

"You can glare at me all you want, Zexion. It's not going to work. I've long since become immune to it."

Zexion sighed, eyes softening as he thought about it. He'd never not done a dare before, since that fateful day when they first started the tradition, and he wasn't going to start now. He threw down the bag of chips that he was eating, brushed his hands off, and sighed once more.

Axel grinned, and watched as Zexion stood up from his seat, rolled his eye (the other was covered with a fringe of his blue hair), and proceeded to climb up on their table, pushing away the various lunch items scattered on its surface.

Zexion glared down at Axel. "I may do this, but you're going to be the one to get their attention."

Axel smirked in affirmation, before jumping off and started running across the cafeteria, keening a high note with an interspersed 'Attention! I would like your attention' and 'Yo! Zexion's got somethin' to say and you're gonna listen', before he came back to the table and gazed up at Zexion, smiling, with the full attention of the cafeteria (all 500 that were in that lunch period) trained on them. "Well, Zexion, it's up to you now."

Zexion sighed once more (the boy had a perpetual habit of sighing when things irritated him) and shifted his stance.

"I, Zexion Zalman, sophomore, would like to tell all of you that I am a gay fairy, and have the hots for Saïx Lunar." At the end of his short speech, Zexion nodded, huffed, and sat back down across from Axel, who was laughing so hard that he was practically on the ground.

The entire cafeteria stared at the two boys, silence filling the entire area to the point that crickets could probably have been heard if not for Axel's laughter.

"Axel, I will get back at you for this. I swear to it- you will pay." Zexion frowned at Axel, pissed beyond belief.

The people in the cafeteria continued to stare at them until, slowly, they turned back to their food and their own conversations, not deigning to give the two boys any more of a reaction.

Axel smiled, panting slightly from how much oxygen he'd used to laugh for so long. "Ah, you don't mean that, Zexy. You love me," and hear Axel drew his two index fingers through the air, in the shape of a heart, "and would never want to hurt me."

Zexion was not usually the type to do this, but in this instance, he couldn't help it. He snorted.

"Hardly, _Axey_. I deal with you because we've lived next to each other since before we were born."

"You know you don't have to: you could have stopped being my friend at any time. You _want_ to stay around me."

Zexion had nothing to say to that, but thankfully, he didn't have to. Someone was approaching the two, backpack and lunch missing, eyes hard and unyielding. He stopped next to Zexion and sat down, facing away from Axel and ignoring him.

"Zexion, why don't you come with me and get away from this imbecile? He needs to stop mocking people and pulling pranks on everyone."

Zexion stared at the boy, slightly confused. "And… you are?"

The boy stared at Zexion, puzzled. "You… don't remember me?"

"No, not really," Zexion said, shaking his head.

The boy rolled his eyes. "I'm Roxas Kiran- that moron over there played a prank on me last year, remember?"

Zexion squinted his eye, then remembered. "Oh, yes, I remember you. You're the one… that he… oh."

"Yeah…."

Axel decided to interject here. "What? Did what? What'd I do?"

Roxas finally acknowledged his presence and turned towards him, blue eyes shooting shards of ice straight through Axel. "You're the one that tortured me for a week by putting _things_ in my food and backpack."

"Oh, yeah, I remember you! Oh, sorry about the snakes thing. I didn't know you were afraid of them so much."

Roxas' eyes fired up. He was absolutely livid. "I'm not afraid of snakes, dammit! I was just startled. Anyway," he turned back to Zexion, "I don't know why you hang out with this moron, but if you'd like to join civilized company, I'm over there," he pointed to an area all the way on the other side of the cafeteria, "and my friends and I would be glad to have you join us." With this he got back up, shot daggers at Axel and moved back to sit at his table, joining a brunet and a silver haired boy.

Zexion knitted his eyebrows, thinking over what he said. Either way, he probably wasn't going to go, if only because he didn't want to gather all of his paraphernalia up and move when the lunch period was so close to ending. He turned back around to Axel, only to be surprised by what he saw.

Axel was staring after Roxas, eyes glazed over and an idiotic smile gracing his face.

"Ax… el? Are you… okay?"

"Huh?" Axel swiveled his head back to Zexion, still slightly gone.

"Are you okay? You don't look so… good."

"Oh, I'm… I'm fine. Did you… did you see that boy?!" Axel turned his head back to watch Roxas, eyes glazing over again.

"Yeah…. What about him?" Zexion was entirely confused. Was… Axel…?

"He's… _hot_. Oh, wow, how'd he slip under my radar before? I wanna just… oh, wow."

Zexion raised an eyebrow. This was definitely different. Not that Zexion didn't know that Axel was bisexual (Axel had come out when he was fourteen) but that he was that enamored over a guy that he'd kind of known for over a year. This was not Axel behavior. Then again, Axel was known for acting different over anything and everything. Axel was… somewhat special.

"You… like him?"

"Hell, _yeah_. Wow, look at that hair. Does that happen naturally, or does he do it with gel? And those _eyes_… God, I wanna do him."

"Axel, while you may want to know what everyone else is thinking about, I certainly do not, and I don't want to hear you talk about him like he's a piece of meat."

Axel shrugged, hardly listening to Zexion's preaching. He was too enamored with staring at the blond. The idiotic smile once more made its way to his face, and he spent the rest of the lunch (all three minutes of it) staring at Roxas, doodling his and Roxas' name (with his finger) onto the surface of the lunch table.

* * *

By the time school had ended, and the two boys had walked to their houses (they were lucky enough to live close enough to the school that they didn't have to take a bus), Zexion was most definitely sick and tired of hearing Axel extol the virtues of one Roxas Kiran, resident hater of one Axel Edan.

Therefore, when Axel tried to walk into Zexion's house with him, instead of going to his own house right next door, all the while rambling on about Roxas, it was only natural that Zexion push Axel right off his doorstep and hiss at him, "Go away, Axel. Go home, and go on about Roxas to someone who cares. Someone like your mother, or your brother. God, he's crazy enough to probably agree with you," and then shut the door in Axel's face.

Such love.

Axel pouted, walked across Zexion's lawn, and into his own house, still thinking about Roxas and how to get Roxas to like him.

He moved to his kitchen, depositing his backpack on the table, grabbing chips from the pantry, and scooting back a chair and plopping down in it, stretching his long legs up onto the table.

He was still thinking on Roxas, and contemplating on whether or not to start his homework (he had all the rest of the day, right?) when his brother walked into the kitchen, stole the chips from Axel's grasp ("Hey!"), and struck the same pose as Axel.

"Hey, little bro. How's high school goin'?"

Axel glared. "Fine, Reno… how's college doing? Oh, wait, I almost forgot- you got kicked out. Give me my chips back, dumbass."

Reno rolled his eyes, and shoved a handful of the extra crispy potato chips into his mouth, smirking around them. He never was the type to do what Axel wanted, if only because he enjoyed irritating his younger brother.

Axel scoffed, glaring more at his brother before getting up and getting another bag from the pantry, and then returning to his seat. Reno smirked, eyebrow raised in a 'See?? I _am_ better than you! So, ha' expression.

"So… what's goin' on with school?"

"Didn't you already ask me this, Reno? And didn't I already answer?"

"Uh… you sorta did. But, not really. Meet anyone?" Reno outright laughed as Axel's face slipped from battle ready warrior into love sick puppy. "I'll take that as a yes. So… who's the guy?"

Axel twisted his mouth. "Who says it's a guy? I'm bi, remember? It could be a girl…"

Reno snorted. "You? Like a girl? As if! You're gay, Axel. Completely. So, who's the guy?"

"… His name is Roxas."

"See. What'd I say? Am I right or am I right?"

Axel rolled his eyes, eating another potato chip. They were so addicting.

"So what? It doesn't mean that I couldn't eventually go for a girl."

"Ah, but you won't, 'cause you like guys."

"You know, most straight guys aren't so comfortable talking to gay guys about said gay guy's sexuality."

Reno shrugged, smile tugging his lips up. "What can I say? I'm special."

"Oh, you're special alright. Anyway, his name is Roxas and, oh wow," Axel's eyes gained that special cast to them, the cast that showed to Reno that he was far away, "you should see his eyes. They're this beautiful blue color, so icy, but they still remind me of the summer sky."

Reno nodded, quickly losing interest as Axel once more began listing everything he found perfect about Roxas (which was apparently a lot). Reno wasn't really that interested in Axel's love life beyond wanting to torment him.

"Mhm, that's nice, Axel. Now, why don't you run off like a good kid and go, oh, I don't know, why don't you go do some homework or something?" Reno said, waving his hand around in the proverbial 'fuck off and go away' gesture.

"Reno, why don't you go and, oh, I don't know, piss off?"

"Ooh, such language, yo. Gotta do better than that to piss me off, dear brother of mine." Reno waved his hand before gracefully walking out of the kitchen, ponytail swishing. Axel rolled his eyes, then got up from the table, grabbed his books, and went upstairs to his room.

There, he went to his desk, and opened the bottom drawer, pulling out an old and tattered notebook. Opening it, Axel's eyes did nothing more than glance over the first fifty pages before he found the page that he was looking for. On page fifty-seven, a picture was pasted, dominating most of the page. Underneath said picture were small words, penned in Axel's chicken scratch.

_Roxas Kiran- genuine Blondie- note to self- does not like snakes._

The next page was completely filled with Axel's crappy handwriting, detailing the prank that he'd pulled on Roxas, and the reaction, and the consequences.

You see, Axel wasn't the brightest bulb in the socket, but he was very meticulous and careful where his pranks and dares were concerned. He documented each one in the journal, the person's picture, the day he did the prank or dare, what happened, their reactions, the consequences, and any follow up pranks that he would do on said person.

Needless to say, the journal was almost full. Most of them were one time things- pranks that only lasted the one day that it took to fulfill them. Zexion and Roxas were the only exceptions. Zexion was easily understood- he'd been daring Zexion for three years, and he had no intention of stopping. Roxas, though, was a little different. The prank that he'd done on Roxas had lasted for an entire school week. He'd started it on a Monday, and ended it the Friday after.

Of course, Axel had blamed it on the fact that the blond had been incredibly easy to prank, and his reactions were just so funny that he couldn't help but do it again. Now, though, he couldn't help but think that it was probably because he was interested in Roxas. After all, the guy was absolutely cute, and adorable, and would probably star in a couple of wet dreams of Axel's.

Axel ran his finger down the page, reading, taking care to not smear the lead on the page.

"So, Roxas Kiran, you don't like me because I decided to have a little fun, huh? Well, I guess I'm just gonna have to change that view," he murmured, a small smile flitting across his face.

This would be fun.

* * *

Axel had a plan, as most guys in lust (he would like to believe that it was love, but really- he's a sixteen year old boy) are wont to have.

The objective- get into Roxas Kiran's pants. The outcome- somewhat different from the objective.

Axel liked to believe that he was a smooth operator. Ever since coming out when he was fourteen, he'd gone on dates and outings with guys. So, he believed that he was somewhat knowledgeable on how to get a guy to go out with him.

Roxas would be no different, right? In fact, he would be somewhat of a challenge- after all, it was kind of apparent to everyone that Roxas hated Axel's guts.

Axel liked challenges.

Axel is also considered to be somewhat stupid, at least where one young blond male is concerned.

* * *

Roxas Kiran tried for one week to get Zexion to leave Axel's table, and to come over to his table with his brother, Sora, and his friend, Riku. Zexion, however, never went. Even though Axel was a complete moronic idiot, Zexion was still his best friend, and friends stuck together. Just don't tell anyone else about Zexion's soft side, 'mkay?

After that one week, Roxas gave up, and decided that Zexion was just as dumb, if not more, as Axel. He went back to his own life, and he spent that weekend working on his homework (spending time with his three friends), doing his chores (talking on the phone with his friends), and spending time with his family (leaving his parents to spend time with his friends).

The next Monday, after his weekend of solitude, Roxas walked into the front hallway of his high school, eyes glued to his History book, for he had a test in it that morning. 

Therefore, he didn't see the numerous flyers blanketing the walls of the hallways, nor did he hear the whispers and giggles from the people walking along the hallway.

When he reached his first period class- completely bypassing the cafeteria, where he normally spent his mornings before school started- he still had his eyes trained on his book, practically sweating about the History test he hadn't prepared for at all. He didn't look up when others started entering, completely ignoring all the whispers and laughter from the girls of the classroom.

He barely even acknowledged his best friend, Hayner, when Hayner slipped into the seat next to his, and greeted him. He merely grunted, until Hayner hit him on his bicep, eliciting a yelp from Roxas.

"What the fuck, Hayner?! I know this is our only class together and all, but I have to study or I'm going to fail the test!" Roxas turned towards his friend, fire in his eyes, only to find that Hayner wasn't smirking at him, or looking at all like he was in a joking mood.

"… Hayner? What's going on?"

Hayner frowned, then handed over a paper to Roxas. "I think you'll want to see this, Roxas."

"Wha…? Why would I want to look… at… a…" Roxas trailed off as he finally saw what the piece of paper had on it.

It was a blown up picture of Roxas from over a year ago, taken by an amateur at some point during the school day. It showed him fiddling with his locker, tongue sticking out to the side, teeth biting down, and face concentrated and serious. And on the bottom of the paper, in bright blue ink, were the words '_Will You Date Me, Roxas Kiran? If So, Meet Me Outside Under The Cherry Oak Tree At 3:00 PM. Signed, Axel Edan.' _Roxas could feel his eyes start to bulge out.

"Wha…? What?! What the hell… is this?!" Roxas' eyes flew up to Hayner, who was still uncommonly serious.

"I don't know, Roxas. It's plastered all over the walls of the school. I can't believe that you didn't see anything."

"Hey! My face has been practically glued to this book, trying to study for this stupid test."

"Stupid test, you say, Mr. Kiran?" Roxas looked up to see his teacher, Sephiroth (did the guy even have a last name? It had never been said during the school year or even on the schedule paper), staring down at him from his lofty height. Roxas gulped.

"O-of course not, Mr. Sephiroth, this test is anything but stupid."

"Considering that it determines your grade for the quarter?"

"Y-yeah…"

"Then I suppose you'll try to do your best on it, correct?"

"Of course, Mr. Sephiroth, sir."

"Very well, then. Throw that piece of trash away and let's get class started, understood?"

"Yes, sir, understood."

And Roxas stood up, and threw away the garish flyer into the trash bin next to his teacher's desk. He and Hayner weren't allowed to converse any further, and Roxas spent the entire class period (all ninety minutes) staring at his desk, thoughts in turmoil… completely ignoring the test.

He failed, of course.

* * *

By the time second period ended and lunch began, Roxas' thoughts were still swirling around in a confused mess, and he was no closer to understanding what was going on then when he'd first learned of Axel's… question.

He sat down, ignoring the occasional snickers of the girls nearby, and turned to his older brother, Sora.

"Sora… I have a problem."

Sora snickered, enjoying Roxas' predicament. He knew that Roxas was gay, so it wasn't as though Axel's asking him out sickened Roxas.

"Oh, really, 'cause, as far as I can see, you don't have a problem. You have a guy- a hot one, mind you-, that wants to go out with you. And everyone knows you're gay… so why don't you just say yes? You might enjoy it."

"Sora, it's not the fact that he asked me out, it's the fact that it's Axel. I hate Axel."

"Then… say no to his question."

"But… why would he do this? He knows that I don't like him. I pretty much made that obvious the week before when I tried to get Zexion to sit with us."

Sora puzzled over it for a minute, face scrunched up in concentration, before merely shrugging his shoulders. "Can't tell ya, Roxas. What I do know, though, is that you're never going to get your questions answered if you don't talk to the guy."

"…"

"Don't give me that look, Roxas. I'm not your love guru, or anything. I don't even have a guy to call my own, or anything- I'm not the one to come to with questions about this kind of stuff."

Roxas continued to glare until he got up, and stalked off, leaving his uneaten tray of cafeteria food behind. Sora smiled and turned to Riku, his friend.

"He's got it bad, huh?"

"Sora, you don't know anything. Roxas… might have something for Axel, but even then, it doesn't mean that they'll get together."

Sora pouted, then smiled brightly, and stole the bag of apple slices from Roxas' plate. "I'll just eat these. They'd go bad, otherwise, right?"

Riku nodded, knowing that Sora hadn't caught onto the hint he'd dropped. "Sure, Sora, you go and eat Roxas' apples. I'm sure he'll be okay with that."

Sora hit Riku over the head, frowning, before tearing into the bag, smile returning quickly.

Roxas, on the other hand, was quickly making his way across the cafeteria, the people sitting around him turning to watch his walk towards Axel.

Roxas stopped next to Zexion's seat, across from Axel's seat, and asked Zexion, in a polite, but strained voice, "Zexion, would you be so kind as to leave until I'm done talking with Axel?"

Zexion looked from Axel to Roxas, back to Axel, back to Roxas, and then looked down at the chips in his hand. "Why not? Although, I have to admit that I shall be sorely disappointed that I won't have a ring side seat for _this_ particular debacle." He got up from the seat and made his way over to another, empty, lunch table a few feet away, staidly munching on his chips.

Roxas immediately sat in his seat, turning his gaze on Axel. Axel grinned, hands rising to hook behind his head. He leaned back a little- not enough to fall out of the seat, though, Roxas mourned- and winked at Roxas.

Roxas fairly snapped, snarling and kicking Axel's shin underneath the table. "Ow!" Axel yelped, toppling out of his seat and slamming his back down on the cold, hard, tiled floor of the cafeteria.

Roxas leaned over the table, staring at Axel, who stared back, wide-eyed and silent. "Ow…" he muttered, too stunned to do much else.

"You're a wuss, Axel, if that little kick was enough to send you into tears," Roxas said, smirking.

Axel glared, slowly getting up from the floor, dusting his back off. "Little? That kick was anything but 'little', Roxas. I'm gonna have a bruise there for who knows how long."

"Too bad, not my problem. You shouldn't have been mocking me."

"Mocking you?! Roxas, how was I mocking you?!" Axel sat down in his seat heavily, mouth gaping open and moving up and down like a fish. It would have been quite comical to Roxas, if he hadn't been so angry at Axel.

"Yes, Axel, mocking me. What else was that wink supposed to be? Or those stupid flyers you put up all over the hallways? By the way, how'd you do that? I mean… don't you have to have permission to put flyers up? And how'd you get the entire school before school started?"

Axel managed to grin, again, fairly preening as he thought of how he'd done it. "Oh, I don't have permission for those flyers. I've already been talked to about it. I don't know what they said- I kinda blanked out halfway through- but I think I remember something about detention for the next three months, starting tomorrow oddly enough. They must have liked my purpose- to give me today off so that I could talk to you. Oh," and hear Axel's teeth glinted, he was smiling so much, "and I snuck in last night after the janitors were done and the security guards had gone home. Spent three hours plastering those things all over the place. Took me forever to make them. I kept having to buy new ink cartridges, and paper. It might have been cheaper just to go the library and make them."

Throughout Axel's little speech, Roxas merely stared, feeling his brain starting to _melt_ from the sheer stupidity exuding from Axel's every word. He eventually stopped listening, knowing that his mind couldn't keep on Axel's little quest for admiration.

"Axel, shut up. I haven't listened to half of what you said, because I don't really care. Now, what do you think you're playing at? What makes you think that I would go out with you? What makes you think that I'm not straight?"

Axel kept his grin on, though, at the beginning of Roxas' dialogue, it had become a little strained. "Well, Roxas, if I wasn't sure before, I am now. After all, if you were straight, you would have just flat out said no. And, you wouldn't have asked that last question last. It would have been the first in your arsenal of questions. Anyway, I didn't know before. I just decided it was worth a shot. Besides, you're not a homophobe. I mean, just look at your brother. I knew I didn't have much to lose by just asking."

"So what? So you knew, or thought, that I was gay. Big deal, it still doesn't mean that you had any right to embarrass me like that."

"Well, Roxas, I knew that I would have to do something big to get your attention. You don't like me, I know that. I also know that you only acknowledge my presence whenever I do something incredibly stupid and idiotic. So, this was the only way that I could think of to get your attention."

"And while succeeding at getting my attention, you also succeeded at getting the rest of the school population's attention. And you utterly failed at getting me to go out with you."

"Oh, come on, Roxas. You have until three o' clock to make your final decision. So, until then, I'll just make sure that by three o' clock you'll want to go out with me."

Roxas scoffed, laughing lightly until he saw that there was no grin on Axel's face, or twinkle in his eye. "You're… being serious? Axel, come on, I hate your guts. You don't even know me. Why would you want me to go out with you?"

"… You're different, Roxas. I've never had any hate me so much. Not even Zexion hates me that much, and believe me, he hates me. You… I want to find out what makes you so different."

Roxas sat up and leaned over to Axel. "You wanna know what's so different about me, Axel? What's different about me is that I don't laugh at your dumb jokes. I don't give you the time of day. I don't let you get away with things. And I don't treat you like you're God's gift to mankind. That's what makes me so different from everyone else. There, question answered. Now, Axel, go get a life and leave me alone."

Roxas made to rise from the seat, and leave the table, but Axel's hand shot out and clamped down on his arm. Axel, completely serious, frowned, and said, "Roxas, I have until three o' clock before you spurn me. Use that time wisely, and figure out where you want to go from here. I don't believe that it would be such a bad thing to date me. I'm not that insufferable."

Roxas scoffed, and forcibly shook Axel's hand off. "Well then, I suppose I'll just have to wait until three to turn you down, since you're so stubborn."

"We'll see, Roxas."

* * *

At two fifty-five PM, Axel made his way out of the school and sat down beneath the cherry oak tree. He unloaded his backpack, not really intending on doing any work; it was just for show, considering that he didn't want to look like he was bored in front of all the people that had shown up to see if Roxas would come.

Axel didn't expect him to come, though. That would have been too easy. So, even though he was waiting, he wasn't really thinking anything would come of it. Roxas would only come if he accepted Axel's question. And Axel seriously doubted that Roxas was going to accept him so quickly. No, Roxas would take time to come around to going out with Axel.

Axel was a patient man when he wanted to be.

However, he still perked up when Roxas came out, exactly at three o' clock. He was surprised, though, when Roxas came strolling over to him and plunked down beside him.

"Hmm, Roxas, have you actually changed your mind and decided to go out with me?"

Roxas frowned. "I'm not going to go out with you, Axel. I don't like you and I don't want to be near you. However, I came here to tell you not to try anything stupid to get me to accept the date. The flyers were bad enough. I got in trouble during first period because I was talking about the flyer."

Axel snorted. "That was your own fault."

Roxas glared maliciously at Axel. "I don't care. Either way, it was your fault."

"Everything's my fault?"

"Pretty much."

"Look, Roxas, all I want is a simple date with you. After that, if you don't want to go out again, I won't pressure you. I'll leave you and your friends alone, and I won't embarrass you in front of the entire school again. I even won't get you into trouble with your teachers."

Roxas sat down again, after trying to get up and leave. He was thinking about Axel's proposal.

"I go on one date with you- one- and you'll leave me alone? No ifs, ands, or buts?"

Axel sighed. "Yes, I'll leave you alone- only if you don't enjoy it, though. If you enjoy it, you'll probably want a second date."

"I highly doubt it, Axel. Alright, Edan, show up tonight at my house at seven. We'll go on that date you've been talking about."

Roxas walked away, leaving Axel behind to pack up. It was only when Axel was done, however, that he realized he didn't know where Roxas lived.

"Ah, shit!" he muttered, and ran off to find Sora, who stayed after for swimming most days.

* * *

By six thirty, Roxas was really regretting his hasty decision to accept Axel's proposal. He sifted through his closet, trying to find his one pair of tight jeans.

It wasn't that Roxas was panicking, or even cared about what he would wear- it was just that Roxas really couldn't stand Axel, so he definitely was regretting his decision. Now he had to look good for the guy, and he didn't even like him!

He finally found the jeans at the bottom of his closet, far in the back right corner. He twisted around the pile of dirty clothing piled at the bottom, wrinkling his nose at the somewhat atrocious smell, and smashed through boxes on his way to the jeans. He needed those jeans.

They were the only ones that would make him look his best. And Roxas had a plan. He was going to make Axel sweat the date out. If what Axel was saying was true, then he'd have no problem with Roxas looking fucking fantastic. Of course, there was no saying that Roxas wasn't going to help that image out, or leave Axel wanting more in the end.

Roxas was a sadistic bastard when he wanted to be, and he had this ability to hold grudges far past the time when they should be laid to rest. He still held a grudge against Hayner for stealing his PB & J when they were kids in the first grade.

"Damn it that had been my PB & J. He shouldn't've taken it," Roxas muttered as he grasped onto one edge of the jeans and pulled. With a good yank they were out, and Roxas was smiling in satisfaction.

Step one of his plan was soon to be complete. Axel would never know what had hit him.

He shimmied into the tight jeans, adjusting them so they'd be more comfortable around his assets, showing his ass and legs off to the best of their ability. He grabbed a black tight shirt that had white swirls around the sides and put it on. Rushing into his sister, Naminé's, room, he grabbed her and her makeup kit, pulling both of them into the bathroom, and locking the door.

"Naminé, make me look hot," he said, handing her makeup bag to her. Naminé smiled sweetly.

"Got a date, Roxas?"

"Yeah, I wanna make him squirm. So how about ya do whatever it is you do that makes me look good?"

"Sure, Roxas, but it's gonna cost you," and here Roxas winced, because Naminé drove some of the hardest prices he'd ever had to pay, "as you know."

"What do you want, Naminé?"

"Besides your soul, world domination, and chocolate ice cream? Oh, not much. Just those jeans when you're done with them."

Roxas internally sighed in relief. That wasn't so bad. "Yeah, sure, but why would you want them?"

"Roxas, they're my size. They'd fit me like a dream."

"Damn you for being my size."

"I can't help genetics, Roxas, or the fact that you're pint-size."

"Just… just do whatever it is you do! You'll get the jeans after tonight, as promised."

Naminé smiled, raising one of her legs in a hop manner. "Great! Now, just hold still. It'll be less painful if you do."

"Painful? What's so… painful about this?"

To this Naminé only smiled, before opening her bag of tricks, and tipping the insides into the sink. Like a person puking their guts out, makeup spewed from the inside, clattering around the porcelain of the sink bowl and resting in the middle.

Roxas looked in apprehension at all of the makeup and the… tools.

Naminé picked one such tool up, and Roxas' eyes widened. "Naminé, what does that thing… do?"

She smiled, her sweet smile edged in sadistic pleasure. "Oh, this little thing?" she asked, indicating the metal tool. "Why, it's only an eyelash curler. But we'll get to this later on, when we get mascara on you. Now, be a good boy, and hold still, and don't question what I do. I'm gonna make you look so good this guy won't know what hit him."

Roxas smiled. "That's what I was planning."

"You know, you're lucky to have me as a big sister."

"Shut up, Naminé."

She rolled her eyes, and set to work.

* * *

Roxas might have regretted the decision to let Naminé give him a makeover if it wasn't for the look of abject lust on Axel's face when Roxas opened the door twenty-five minutes later.

Step two of his plan was set in motion and it was going perfectly.

Roxas would have smiled, if that wouldn't have destroyed the look of sultry sexiness he was trying to go for. Axel was going to eat out of the palm of his hand by the end of the night and Roxas was going to enjoy every minute of it.

"Hey, Axel, those for me?" Roxas asked, index finger pointing to the flowers in Axel's hand.

"Um… uh… these, uh… yeah! Yeah, they're yours. Um… hope they weren't too girly or anything. I can just get rid of them if you want."

Roxas smiled slowly, leaning a hand out and grabbing Axel and dragging him into Roxas' house. "Nah, that's okay, I like 'em. I'll just take these and put them in the kitchen. Make yourself comfortable."

Axel could only nod, staring at Roxas' swaying ass as Roxas walked away, entering a doorway down the hallway.

He bit his lip and closed his eyes. If he hadn't already believed that Roxas was hot, tonight would have changed his opinion forevermore. He groaned slightly, the image of Roxas playing at the back of his lids. What had he done to those eyes, to make them pop even more than they normally did? And, and, and… oh, those cheeks. They glittered slightly, shimmering in the light of his hallway lamps. Nothing too noticeable, but just enough to draw attention. And did his lips look lusher than they usually did?

Axel was definitely having some trouble, and the night hadn't even started. He squirmed, itching to adjust his _little_ problem, but not wanting to be caught by Roxas trying to adjust the pressure in his pants. Oh, problems he was definitely going to have.

"So, Axel, you ready to go?" Roxas walked down the hallway toward Axel, a certain look on his face that made Axel gulp. What was Roxas doing? Was… was he doing it on purpose, or did he just go to this 'I'm-A-Sexy-Beast-And-I-Know-It-And-You-Love-It' mode normally when on dates? Either way, Axel was done for, and Roxas probably knew it.

Axel gulped again. "Um… yeah, we can get going if you're ready."

"Well, I'm ready."

Axel nodded, starting to walk out, but then remembering something important. "Oh, you're gonna want a light jacket, by the way."

Roxas raised an eyebrow, but went to the hall closet next to the door and emerged with a leather jacket draped across his arm.

"Let's get going, Axel."

Axel winced. Not even started and Roxas was already hurrying the date along, trying to get it towards its finish. Not a good sign, most definitely.

Roxas and Axel left the house, Roxas closing the door behind them. Axel led the way to his Corolla, unlocking it and opening the passenger door.

Roxas stood beside Axel, staring at the car. "This… is your car? I would have thought that you'd have something a little more… I don't know, uh… more suitable to your devil-may-care attitude."

Axel blushed, his face turning almost the same color as his vivid red hair. He was suddenly thankful for the early nights that February brought. "Um… it's kinda not mine. I co-own it with my sister, and uh… well, I haven't been driving long, actually. Only the last two months, since January when I turned sixteen."

Roxas smiled. "Oh, you have a sister? Me, too. Older?"

"Yeah, by four years. Ariel's kinda… well, I was the oopsy of the family."

"Ah, mine's only two years older. Naminé's… well, she's like all older sisters. Pains, huh?"

Axel smiled, starting to get more comfortable. They were both in the car and Roxas was having civilized, intelligent- okay, so it was more small talk, but still, it was a start- conversation with him. This was a better sign. See, Roxas, you might enjoy tonight.

"So, uh, Axel, where're we going?"

Axel started, startled by the question, so lost was he in his thoughts. "Oh, um, that's a secret! Can't tell ya."

"Yeah, that's usually what something being secret signifies."

And they were back to 'You're-Dumb,-Axel-And-Therefore-Not-Worthy'.

Axel sighed inwardly, wondering what conversations would be safe to have with Roxas and that wouldn't lead to him being hurt physically or put down mentally. They sat like this for a while, lasting over a half hour.

For some odd reason, though, Axel was saved from this by Roxas.

"Okay, Axel, where are you going? Do you even know where you're going?"

Axel pulled out of his thoughts, and found that he was nowhere near where he'd decided to take Roxas. He had been planning on taking him to dinner at the Twilight Room, one of the trendier hang out for teenagers, followed by movies at the most expensive cinema Twilight Town had to offer. Now, he wasn't even sure he was in Twilight Town. Had he just been driving on auto-pilot?!

Where were they?

Axel slowly pulled the car over to the side of the road, ignoring Roxas' question –"What're you doing, Axel?" -, and getting out of the car. Roxas followed, slamming the door on his side as he got out.

"Axel, where are we? You're not lost, are you?"

Axel chuckled nervously, scratching his head with one hand. "Um… do you want me to be truthful… or… lie?"

Roxas just stared, face slowly turning puce from lack of oxygen. "You… got… _us_… _**lost**_?!"

"Uh… well… technically… we're not really lost…. I mean, we have to be right outside town, right?"

Roxas snapped. Hurling his body at Axel, Roxas bowled Axel over, straddling his body and wrapping his hands around Axel's throat and _squeezing_. "AXEL! You bastard! We left town over twenty minutes ago! All you've been doing is turning left and right this entire time! You got us LOST! Damn it!"

Axel decided not to struggle, figuring that Roxas would eventually stop and save him from certain death soon. He was right as Roxas flung his body away, rolling off of Axel and stumbling to his feet, starting to walk away, stomping his feet slightly. Axel turned over onto all fours, coughing slightly. "Jeez, Roxas, you trying to kill me?"

Roxas swung around, staring daggers at Axel. "You know I'm not going to kill you! I don't need to go jail!"

"Oh, so glad to know that's the only reason keeping me from my imminent death," Axel muttered, more to himself than to Roxas. Roxas heard, though.

"Don't act like you're wounded, Axel. You don't give a shit what I think."

Axel almost felt like rolling his eyes, so off base was Roxas' thinking. "If I didn't care what you thought, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to ask you out, now would I?"

"Oh, come on, Axel. This was just a stunt to get into my pants and garner a little attention from the student body. And you know what, only half of your plan worked, because you're never going to get anywhere near me!"

Axel suddenly became furious, nearly seeing red, and not just because spikes of his scarlet hair had fallen in his eyes. "You know what, Roxas, why don't you think for once, and see that I actually give a shit about you! I don't do this for every guy that I want to have sex with. Maybe- oh, I don't know-, I actually wanted to get to know you. Maybe, I thought we had a chance. So sorry that that wasn't what you were thinking either. God, I should have known that you were only doing this to get away from me. So that'd I get off your back," Axel sighed, suddenly feeling inexplicably sad, "You know what, it worked. I'll take you home now and I won't bother you anymore. Get in the car."

Axel walked to the car, leaving Roxas behind him with a suddenly morose expression on his face, arms wrapped around his chilled body. It was a cold night for March, and Roxas had left his jacket in the car. Roxas turned around, sighed, and walked back to the car, getting in with Axel.

Axel started the car, and they moved away, neither talking nor looking at each other. Axel had no real way of knowing how to get home, but he just started driving. He couldn't have gone too far off the path towards Twilight Town, could he?

It didn't really matter, though, as merely five minutes later a spluttering and coughing issued from the hood of Axel's car, steam starting to rise slightly from behind it. Axel, once again, slowed to a halt at the side of the road. He laid his head on his steering wheel, turning the keys and pulling them out.

"This date really couldn't get any worse, could it?" he muttered, not even looking to Roxas. Roxas only snorted.

Axel got out of the car, Roxas following quickly, and made his way to hood, popping it open and standing back from the hot steam now billowing from it. Once it cleared, he tucked his head under the hood, tinkering for a little while.

"Shit, I think it might be the water pump, but what would I know? I'm no mechanic," he spoke, head still under the hood.

Roxas rolled his eyes, pushing Axel away gently before sticking his own head under the hood. "Yep, it's the water pump. Looks like it's been bad for a while, and tore the fan belt today. Just your luck, huh, that it had to be tonight."

Axel stared at Roxas. "How'd… you know that?"

Roxas resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. "I know because my dad is a mechanic." Roxas closed the hood, placing his hands on top. "It's not gonna be fixed tonight. You have to get both the water pump and the fan belt replaced. And we're stuck in Bum-Fuck-Nowhere." Roxas smiled.

Axel bit his lip. "Guess that means we walk, huh?"

"Or we could call my dad and get him to come pick us up."

"You have a cell phone?"

Roxas stared at Axel. "Yeah, you don't?"

Axel shrugged. "Can't afford one, and that's something that my parents say I have to buy on my own. Already paying for the car."

"Ah, guess it's a good thing that my parents decided one day that I needed one for absolutely no reason then, huh? Although I guess I'll get a chance to use it."

"You've never used it before?"

"No, I hate cell phones. I certainly have no real need for one, except I guess it's come in handy tonight," Roxas muttered, fingers punching in his home phone number and hitting talk. He held his index finger up to Axel, telling him not to talk.

Waiting for someone to pick up, Roxas tapped one foot lightly, striking a pose of sorts. Even though now was so not the time to be doing so, Axel couldn't help but notice once again how good Roxas looked. He'd at least tried to look nice for the date, hatred of Axel or not. Then someone must have picked up, because Roxas turned around, walking off a little ways, finger poking into his ear in an attempt to hear better.

"Dad? ... Oh, great, you're there… Yeah, yeah, I get it, you're always there… Why I'm calling you? Uh… well… You know how I was on that date tonight? … Yeah, Dad, with the crazy red-head… Mhm… Uh… that's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually…. Well, you see, Axel went off into lala land and got us lost… Yes, Dad, lost… I know, Dad, but I wasn't paying attention… oh, so it's my fault? … Well, anyway, on the way back to finding a way back home, Axel tore his fan belt by way of his corroded water pump… Yes, so now we're stuck out in Bum-Fuck-Nowhere with no way to get back… I was only repeating you… Yes, Dad, no language… Where are we? …. Well, if I knew that, don't you think I'd find some way to get back home? … Oh, what street we're on? Um… Axel, do you know the street name?" Axel only shrugged, so Roxas looked around, trying to find a street sign, "Dad, I don't know what street we're on… okay, call you back when we find out? … Yes, Dad, will do… Uhuh, bye." Roxas sighed, hanging up the phone. "God, that man likes to talk."

Axel snickered.

"Don't laugh at my dad! Only I'm allowed to do that. I or Sora," Roxas snarled. Axel stopped quickly.

"Well, suppose we better start walking," Axel said, going to his car and bringing out his and Roxas' jackets, throwing Roxas' to him. Locking his doors, Axel came up to Roxas and they started walking, hoping to see a road intersection or something where a street sign would be.

* * *

Nearly twenty minutes later, they still hadn't come to an intersection of any kind, and there had been no sign of life.

Roxas sighed. "How is it that there's nobody around at only eight PM? Why is no one coming around?" He paused, thinking for a minute. "And why aren't there any goddamn road signs around?!"

Axel snickered, again, deciding to risk Roxas' wrath. "Watch that language, Roxas, don't want to get Daddy upset."

Roxas stopped, and Axel was almost regretting his rash decision when Roxas started to laugh. It was a full-bodied laugh, loud and rich, trailing off into the air. Axel could only stare in amazement, because Roxas had never laughed like that around him. Then he started to grin, thinking that Roxas had actually appreciated his bad joke. Then Roxas spoke.

"Oh, wow, now I know I haven't been on too many dates, but this has got to be the worst one I've ever been on. Great going, Axel, for making fun of me when I'm already in a bad mood; it was the perfect ending to this oh so perfect night." Axel's grin slipped off his face quickly as Axel sheepishly shrugged his shoulders, hand going back to scratching and rubbing at his head, slipping down to his neck. It was a nervous habit, really, one that Axel hadn't been able to get rid of since he was a small kid.

"Sorry," he muttered. He could only stare as Roxas started to laugh once again, beginning to walk to where Axel had also stopped ahead of him.

"Let's just keep walking, shall we, Axel?" Axel could only nod, and they started off again.

Ten minutes later, and Roxas was almost ready to collapse. He wasn't cut out for walking long distances. He was almost tempted to drop to the ground and make Axel continue on alone, trying to find that elusive road sign, when Axel yelled out.

"Roxas, look! Look! It's a sign! Call your dad and tell him that we're on Avent Ferry road! Oh, thank God," he sobbed out, actually dropping to his knees.

Roxas could only stare as he whipped out his cell again, and dialed his father again. Five minutes later he was off, and he went over to Axel, sitting down on the road next to him.

"You know, Axel, you've been silent for almost all of these thirty minutes of walking. That's gotta be some kind of record, right?"

Axel stiffened. "Tell me again why I liked you?"

Roxas shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know: 'cause I'm hot?"

Axel scoffed. "Oh, yeah, there's that alright."

"Well, what else is there for you to like about me? You didn't even know me, Axel."

"The whole point, Roxas, of this date was to get to know you. The few encounters we've had were enough to get me intrigued enough to want to find out more about you; to see if there was something there that I really liked. I guess that didn't turn out too well, huh?" Axel rolled his shoulders, muscles stiffening as Roxas remained silent.

"You know, Axel, I think I've learned a little bit about you tonight," Roxas finally spoke up, leaning back on his hands and looking up at the clear night sky. "You're not that bad of a person, okay? I probably shouldn't have gotten so angry at you, or tried to choke you, but I've got this temper problem. I can't keep control of it very easily, so, uh, sorry about that. And sorry about the yelling, and the choking, and the death threats and the, uh… the slapping, and the kicking: yeah, that about covers it all, right?" Roxas trailed off, finger slipping into his mouth and he chewed at the nail; his own nervous habit.

Axel turned his head to look at Roxas. Roxas stared back for two minutes before Axel finally beamed, his grin so bright that it was almost like a beacon. Before he knew it, Axel jumped on him, hugging him.

"Forgiven!" was all that Axel said before releasing him, figuring that the two second long hug was more than enough to get Roxas more than riled up. Luckily, all that Roxas did was clear his throat and straighten his clothes, muttering slightly under his breath, too low for Axel to hear. It was clear he was embarrassed. Axel didn't really care, though, because Roxas had said something nice and was actually asking for forgiveness.

They sat in comfortable silence for another ten minutes before someone finally rolled up, headlights shining like beacons in the clear night. Roxas lowered his eyelids, squinting through the bright light. He was thankful to see that it was his dad, who was rolling his window down and yelling out, "Get in, kids, before I change my mind and leave you behind!"

His dad was a weird character. _Must be part of that mechanic façade he carried_, Roxas thought.

The two teenagers scrambled up off the pavement and into the car quickly, for at least Roxas knew that his dad was being somewhat serious.

The entire car ride was spent in silence, the two unwilling to talk when Roxas' father was such a close distance away and perfectly willing to eavesdrop on any conversation they might have.

They were soon at Roxas' home, and they all got out, Roxas waiting for his dad to go inside so that he could talk to Axel. Finally, getting the hint that they wanted some privacy, Roxas' father left, walking inside the house, almost slightly disappointed.

Roxas stared slightly off to the left of Axel, not really knowing what to say. Finally, unable to stand the awkward silence anymore, Axel decided to break it.

"Um… so, Roxas… Um… I'm sorry for the who- mph," Axel broke off, finding that his lips were otherwise occupied.

Roxas had quickly leaned up and placed his lips on Axel's, effectively shutting Axel up. Axel, who could hardly believe what was happening, decided to just go along with it, and shut his eyes, hands going up to Roxas' neck, holding him in place.

The two stayed that way for almost an entire minute, the kiss surprisingly chaste before Roxas broke off. Axel just stared at Roxas in surprise.

"So, uh, I'll… uh… see you in school tomorrow?" Roxas asked, thumb going back up to his mouth and he started to chew on the nail again. Such a stupid nervous habit, and he hated it so much, especially when he was doing it in front of Axel, whom he'd decided wasn't all that bad of a person.

Axel just stared, blinking slowly. Roxas grew more nervous, shifting from foot to foot. "Why're you just staring at me like that? Say something or don't, but stop staring." Roxas slipped his thumb out of his mouth, and started to chew on his bottom lip.

Axel slowly grinned once more. "Roxas, the more time I spend around you, the more surprised I become. I have a feeling that I'm going to want to get to know everything about you." Then, he leaned down and placed his lips on Roxas' once more, barely deepening the kiss before breaking it off, leaving Roxas dazed this time.

With a salute to Roxas, Axel started walking backwards, grinning all the while at Roxas. It almost would have been a suave exit if he hadn't tripped over the curb at the end of Roxas' lawn, and stumbled out into the street. Roxas sniggered, watching as Axel caught himself from falling, and straightened back up.

"Bye, Axel. See you tomorrow. Maybe we'll do this again sometime, hmm?" Roxas turned around and walked to his front door, listening to Axel stuttering over his words before finally yelling out, "Definitely, Roxas! We'll definitely have to do this again! Only, next time, why don't we walk to where we're gonna go!"

Roxas smiled, waving a hand at Axel before entering, leaving Axel to walk the three blocks between their houses alone, silly grin plastered on his face the entire time.

* * *

The next day, Axel had his car towed to the local mechanic shop. Surprisingly enough, it was Roxas' father's shop, and he got a discount on the water pump and fan belt. It didn't matter, because Axel had finagled Ariel, his sister, into paying for it.

Two weeks later, once he was sure that the car was running perfectly fine, Axel again took Roxas out- this time, Roxas was willing. After a perfectly normal date- that was almost as much fun as their non-conventional date-, Roxas decided that he definitely liked Axel- he also really liked the kisses Axel was prone to give him.

Three weeks after their second date, they went on their third, and decided that they should go steady.

The middle of that summer between their sophomore and junior year of high school, Riku finally confessed to Sora how long he'd been crushing on him and Sora, after many a day of walking around his house in confusion, went on a date with Riku. Roxas was secretly glad for, no matter how much he loved his brother, Sora had been giving him many a migraine while trying to find out if he liked Riku back or not, talking everything out with his patient-thin brother.

More than a year and a half later, in late November of their senior year, Axel and Roxas bore witness to the fiasco of the unconventional courtship of Zexion and Demyx. Due to a stupid dare, and Axel's stupidity, Zexion and Demyx became a couple, and were still going strong.

At graduation, more than two years after Roxas and Axel's own fiasco of a first date, Axel and Zexion decided that beginning that Dare or Dare game, all those years ago, was probably the best thing they'd ever done.

Because of it, Axel had found Roxas and fallen in love, and Zexion had slipped into love with Demyx.

The two couples, especially Axel and Roxas, were the favorite of their school, and there would always be some talk about how Axel had done the most clichéd thing ever to get Roxas to notice him and how Zexion had lied to Demyx to win a dare, eventually leading to their own romance.

So, even though there rarely ever went a day where Roxas wasn't somehow physically abusing Axel (whether it be by way of affection or by anger), Axel and Roxas were happily in love and nowhere near ready to let go of each other.

It just goes to show that something good can always come of something bad, even when that something bad dealt with a very angry Roxas.

* * *

A/N: Holy crap, this puppy took me close to two months to write, with freqeunt stops and starts. I started thinking up the plot about three months ago, when I first decided to do a companion fic to 'Triple Dog Dare You'. Anyway, at over 10,00 words long, this is offically my longest oneshot to date (even longer than 'Triple Dog Dare You'), and I'm absolutely tired. Hope you enjoyed and liked it as much as 'Triple Dog Dare You'.

Lifes.Lover


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